THE family of a man from Ash who was found dead after being reported missing from his home have described him as a charitable and friendly person.

THE family of a man from Ash who was found dead after being reported missing from his home have described him as a charitable and friendly person.

Police launched a missing persons appeal after Stephen Wilson vanished on July 5, but his body was found four days later in Windlesham.

The 48-year-old's death is not being treated as suspicious.

Mr Wilson's nephew Bryen Smith, who lived with him in Popper Crescent, said: “He was the kind of guy who, if he had 50 quid, everyone would have a beer.”

He was originally from Durham and worked in Swift Lane, Lightwater.

Mr Wilson was a great supporter of the Starlight children’s charity, which helps terminally ill children, and wore a denim cap with its logo on most days.

When the charity held its annual fun day at Popham Airfield near Basingstoke, he used to drive a fire engine around the field to give rides to the children.

Mr Smith, 32, said his uncle was a good sailor who also worked on repairing a lot of cars and motorbikes.

“His motto was there was no such word as couldn’t,” he said. “I remember one time he and I were driving around America and we had two flat tyres in the middle of the desert. He managed to get us out of that one.”

Mr Smith said he had fond memories from his childhood, of sailing and helping to repair motorbikes and cars with his uncle.

He added: “He was quite a private man but he was also someone who, if you’d upset him, you knew it without him having to come over and say anything.

“He didn’t need to be confrontational to tell you how he felt. He wouldn’t go screaming and shouting.”

Mr Smith added that his uncle had suffered from periods of depression in the past but seemed to have been rebuilding his life in the months before his death.